The Indiana Finance Authority has extended a subsidy it pays the Indiana Toll Road's operator that discounts tolls for car drivers with EZPass and compatible transponders.
The agency's board, which leases the Toll Road to the private firm Indiana Toll Road Concession Co., voted last week to extend the rebate until the end of May.
“Due to a normal and slight decrease in Toll Road use in the winter months, a small balance is left in the toll-subsidy account," said Public Finance Director Dan Huge in announcing the extension through May. "The state has no plans to extend the toll subsidy beyond that date."
The rebate pays Indiana Toll Road Concession Co. the difference between the amount charged transponder users and cash payers. A trip along the entire 157-mile length of the Toll Road costs $4.56 with a transponder, but $10.50 without one.
It is the fourth extension of the subsidy. The most recent extension, approved in February, set its expiration for the end of April. At that time, $11 million was left in the account, through which the IFA has paid more than $200 million over nearly a decade.
Huge said the rebate has benefited approximately 80,000 Hoosier motorists.
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